


Falling Like the Stars

by lbk_princen



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Pre-Canon, Puppy Love, Sneaking Around
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-18
Updated: 2020-07-18
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:28:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25358458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lbk_princen/pseuds/lbk_princen
Summary: They've been friends for a long time. But ever since she was officially appointed as his guard, their friendship was never really the same again. Ling wants it to be, but Lan Fan knows better. (She thinks she does, anyway.)~~Just a short scene; could be read as romantic or platonic. I like Lingfan both ways.
Relationships: Lan Fan & Ling Yao
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	Falling Like the Stars

A hand touched Lan Fan's shoulder, rousing her from sleep. She sat up immediately, fist clenched around the kunai she kept under her pillow. 

"It's me," whispered a familiar voice.

"What are you doing here, Ling?" Lan Fan muttered drowsily as she returned her weapon to its hiding place. A beat too late she realised she had slipped up and called him by his name. 

In the darkness, backlit by moonlight, she couldn't make out Ling's expression. He said, "Come with me," then turned and slipped out the window, presumably the same way he had gotten in. 

Lan Fan obediently rolled out of bed and followed him to the window, though she wondered what this was about. The night air caressed her face, balmy and pleasant. Once she was out the window, Ling offered his hand to her, which annoyed her a little (she was older, she was his bodyguard, _she_ was supposed to protect _him_ ) but she wouldn't disrespect him by ignoring it. So she accepted his hand and let him pull her up to sit beside him on the roof's peak.

"I learned that there's a meteor shower tonight," Ling explained. Now that he wasn't backlit anymore, Lan Fan could see his expression more clearly; his face was outlined in silver from the watery light of the nearly-full moon. He was smiling, clearly eager to share this with her.

She smiled back, and some of the tension holding her spine rigid loosened. "That's nice, young lord. Thank you for inviting me to join you."

Ling's smile dissipated slightly. "You don't have to be so formal when we're alone," he said quietly.

"You don’t stop being the prince when we're alone," Lan Fan pointed out.

He drew his knees up to his chest and lowered his head. She got the distinct feeling that she had said the wrong thing, and the back of her throat went dry. 

"What would you like me to call you?" she tried.

Ling shook his head. "If you really feel that I'm just your prince and nothing more then that's fine." The words themselves were cavalier though they were muffled by the way his face was pressed sulkily against his knees.

Lan Fan wanted to roll her eyes. Instead she inched slightly closer. "I know you want us to be friends," she began softly. "But duty comes first."

"You sound like Fu," Ling muttered.

"That's a compliment," Lan Fan said pointedly. "My grandfather is very wise."

Ling said nothing to that. When his position didn't change, she turned her gaze skywards. It was a clear, pristine night, perfect for star-gazing. 

“I’m sorry,” she said, trying again. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

Ling finally lifted his head, joining her in looking at the heavens. “I’m not upset,” he responded, but Lan Fan knew he was lying. 

Rather than call him out on it, she said, “I want to be friends too, but we’d get in trouble.” Though she said ‘we,’ she mostly meant herself. A prince might be looked down upon and whispered about for being so close to a bodyguard, a _servant,_ but it wasn’t like anyone could order him not to. She, on the other hand, could be punished -- especially because Ling wasn’t of age yet, so for now his words only had so much pull in the grand scheme of their lives.

“I know,” he said quietly, likely thinking the same thing.

“We could get into trouble for this, what we’re doing right now,” Lan Fan added.

“I know,” Ling repeated, softer.

They sat in silence for a while. A cool breeze blew over them, making them both shiver and instinctively shuffle a little closer to one another.

“If I become the emperor, no one could get us in trouble,” Ling whispered.

Lan Fan shivered again, but not from the cold. Of course she knew that Ling was a prince, and that he was important, but it was easy to forget what that _meant._ It was easy to forget that the twelve-year-old boy sitting beside her in his nightclothes, tall for his age and full of sunshine, was descended from the most powerful lineage in the country. That the throne of Xing was his birthright, if he proved himself worthy to claim it. That he very well _could_ become the next emperor.

She really wouldn’t be his equal, then. They weren’t equals even now. She suddenly felt very small and insignificant, sitting beside this boy who could grow up to be the most powerful man in the world.

To think, he wanted that power just so that she could be his friend.

“I think I saw one,” Lan Fan lied, pointing upwards. She didn’t want to have this conversation anymore.

“A falling star? Where?” Ling peered upwards, following her pointing finger.

“You missed it.” Lan Fan lowered her hand. “There should be more, though, right?”

“Right,” he agreed.

They lapsed back into silence as they studied the sky. For a while there was nothing but the cold creeping into their skin and the stars, fixed and un-falling.

Then there was a small silver streak across the sky, a blink-and-you-miss-it kind of blur that made both of them gasp. It was followed by a second, and then a third. 

“Wow,” Lan Fan exhaled, tipping her face up to take as much of it in as she could. Another meteor zipped past, thousands of miles away and more fleeting than anything she could think to compare it to.

For a few minutes they sat together, only inches apart, heads back as they watched the meteor shower. The shooting stars fell a few seconds apart from each other, spread out across the sky and beautiful every time. After several minutes, the sky was once more static, and Lan Fan felt a little disappointed that she hadn’t been able to properly appreciate the last one, thinking that there would be more.

Beside her, Ling muffled a yawn against the back of his hand. She glanced at him and stood, balancing perfectly on the rounded peak of the roof in her bare feet. 

“You should get back to bed,” she said, holding her hand out to him.

“Okay,” he agreed with a sigh. He took her hand and she pulled him upright. 

“I’ll see you back to your room,” she offered. He just nodded and started plodding along the roof towards the west wing of the manor. She kept pace behind him, even if the hard-edged tiles of the roof dug into her feet. She would not complain, and she would make sure her prince got safely back to bed.

He swung down into his window with practiced ease, and she followed suit, though she stayed perched on the sill as he wandered further into the room.

“Thank you,” Lan Fan said again in a whisper, wary that his aunt might hear them through the wall.

“What for?” Ling whispered back, rubbing his eye.

She had to think about it. “For wanting to spend time with me?”

Even in the darkness of his room, his smile was unmistakable. “You’re good company.”

Lan Fan wanted to scoff. _She_ was good company? “If you say so, my lord.” Her voice dipped on the title, pushing it from a formality to a tease.

Ling’s smile brightened even further. He scampered forward and dragged her into a hug, startling a faint noise from her throat. It was at a strenuous and awkward angle because she was half hanging out the window, but the way he clung to her made it seem important, so she returned the embrace. Once again, for his sake, she would not complain.

When he let go, he said, “I’ll see you in the morning, Lan Fan.”

“Goodnight, Ling,” she replied softly. This time the use of his name was deliberate, even though she knew it was wrong.

Rather than wait for a reply, Lan Fan hoisted herself back onto the roof and began the quick journey back to her quarters. She remembered that her grandfather would be returning from the night patrol soon, and picked up her pace. Luckily she made it back before he did, and slipped under the covers of her bed moments before the door opened.

In the morning her feet were sore, but when she saw the way Ling smiled at her at breakfast, she didn’t regret it one bit.


End file.
